Glenmede Trust Co. NA Acquires New Shares in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 17,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 4.0% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Avista by 6.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Avista by 7.3% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 63,391 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,194,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA traded down $0.29 on Wednesday, reaching $37.70. The company had a trading volume of 160,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,388. The company's fifty day moving average is $37.98 and its 200 day moving average is $37.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.48. Avista Co. has a fifty-two week low of $31.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company.

Avista Company Profile

Avista Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. It operates in two segments, Avista Utilities and AEL&P. The Avista Utilities segment provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington and northern Idaho; and natural gas distribution services in parts of northeastern and southwestern Oregon, as well as generates electricity in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.